November 18 2025

Tuesday November 18

“Filled With All the Fullness of God”

Ephesians 3:14-19

14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-- 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Today we're continuing to look at the prayer, the petition that the Apostle Paul made for the church at Ephesus here in Ephesians 3:14-19. It's very important that we remember that as Paul prayed this prayer, these four petitions have to do with Christian growth, Christian maturity. Paul was concerned that every man could be made perfect, mature in Jesus Christ. That was his goal. Not just to win people to Christ and say, "Oh, another one's going to heaven." But that he could present these dear believers before Christ as mature people who have learned to live for the Lord, love the Lord, and let the Lord live His life through their lives.

Paul wrote similar words to the church at Colossae: “To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me” (Colossians 1:27-29 ESV).

My friend, this is what Paul toiled, struggled, and prayed for. This is what we need, to “be filled with all the fullness of God”. This is what we need to pray for other believers. In verse 14, Paul said, "For this reason I bow my knees." He had a purpose when he prayed. I mean, when I pray, I want something to happen. I want God to make a difference in the lives of people. I pray for a reason, not just to say some words with my head bowed and my eyes closed, but praying with purpose. What reason is that? “For whom the whole family of heaven on earth is named that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man to know the strength of the Holy Spirit in the inner man”.

It's so important we understand that when we are obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are obedient to the Holy Spirit when He speaks to us and gives us an assignment, that there is an energy that begins at that moment of obedience. It's an emotional energy. It's a physical energy. It's a mental energy. Most of all, it's a spiritual energy that energizes us to do the will of God. So, with our mind, we say, "I want to do the will of God. I will do the will of God." But then when we're obedient to put our foot forward, to raise our hand to say, "Here I am, Lord, send me." Or then we go forward in the service, go to Bible college, or volunteer to take that Sunday school class, or whatever it is, at that moment of obedience, we have a new energy and power to do God's will.

To get out of bed in obedience and spend another 10 minutes before we leave for work, reading our Bibles, and spending some time in prayer with the Lord, asking for grace for the day, dealing with the issues of the day in prayer before we begin the day. That energy that comes when we're obedient to read His Word, obedient to pray, obedient to go to church, obedient to share our faith with others around us. That's when we experience the energizing strength and power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Paul says, "That's what I'm praying for, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." It's by faith we live. We do not walk by sight. We do not look at the things that are seen, but the things that are unseen, the things that are eternal. We see God at work around us. We join Him in that work. We become a part of what He's doing. We're co-laborers with God and with others as the Gospel is being shared. We then experience God in a new and a fresh way every day.

Then Paul prays, “Being rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width, the length, and the depth and the height and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God”. We both comprehend and apprehend. Comprehend means that we mentally know this is what God's truth is. To apprehend means that we make it our own. We grab hold of it. We lay hold on God Himself and know it's God, Christ, the Holy Spirit working in us to do the will of God.

Oh, my friend, what a wonderful life this is. It is then that we experience the “width and length and depth and height of God's love. It is immeasurable. It's all about the love of Christ that's found in the redemptive work of Christ on the cross of Calvary. “For God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son”. We experience that love in a deep and new way, every day. We're filled with the fullness of God. We express God's life through our life. People see God in us.

We are then that witness that Jesus spoke of in Acts 1:8, "You'll be unto me everywhere when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”. Because you're filled with the fullness of God, which is being filled with the Holy Spirit.

God bless you as you meditate on these truths today for the glory of God.

God bless!